


Reprise

by fiones



Category: Kyou Kara Maou!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-17
Updated: 2013-01-17
Packaged: 2017-11-25 20:10:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/642522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiones/pseuds/fiones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And it was the most beautiful sound Yuuri had ever heard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reprise

Yuuri had always liked music. It was the one thing in the world, he thought, that really connected people. Music crossed oceans and surpassed language barriers, spreading thoughts and ideas and beautiful notes to every reach of the universe. And everyone could hear it and feel and appreciate it and love it, even if they maybe didn’t understand the words. Yuuri himself was a fan of some foreign bands, bands singing in languages he didn’t speak a word of, but he loved them all the same because he could hear it in their voices, hear their passion, their depth, and it moved him just as much as if he really could understand.  
  
The same, he learned, was true across dimensions. There was one time when he brought Wolfram to Earth with him and let him listen to his CD collection. Wolfram didn’t understand a single word being said but he listened almost obsessively and when Yuuri later asked him what he thought, Wolfram replied with wide eyes, “It’s beautiful.”  
  
They themselves were like music.  
  
When Yuuri slapped Wolfram’s cheek and defeated him in the duel the following day, sealing their fate, it was as though they’d been handed a piece of sheet music, a long and difficult duet, and had been left to learn it on their own. It was the most difficult task either of them had ever faced. Neither were good at singing and they didn’t understand what all the symbols and words and letters meant, the placement on the bars, anything. One would sing too loudly, the other too softly, and they just kept missing each other.  
  
Wolfram wasn’t one to give up and he’d be damned if he let Yuuri do so either. He tried, over and over, practicing to get the perfect pitch and observed Yuuri and learned how to approach him and when to let his voice go softer to match Yuuri’s. He stumbled over the words in some places, sometimes going too fast, or forgetting what he was supposed to say, and one or two times he forgot the meaning, but it soon all flooded back to him and he understood.  
  
Yuuri took a bit longer to catch on. At times he felt intimidated by Wolfram and backed down, letting Wolfram’s voice drown him out. At others he felt defensive and frustrated and would sing loudly and angrily, hoping for Wolfram to back down. He sometimes wondered if maybe Wolfram wouldn’t be better off singing with someone else (their voices sounded horrible together, how could they possibly pull of a good duet?) and occasionally he thought about how Wolfram was the last person he wanted to be with. The more time they spent rehearsing together, however, it became more and more clear to Yuuri that despite how incredibly mismatched they were, and how fierce and passionate Wolfram could be, he realized that he was glad it was Wolfram. Wolfram pushed him and didn’t sugarcoat anything and believed in him and Yuuri trusted him. Wolfram gave him the confidence and the will to strive to be a truly fantastic king, in the moments when Yuuri felt weak and inferior and worthless. And for Wolfram’s sake, Yuuri promised, he’d get stronger. Get better. And he’d sing in tune.  
  
Their song started out wild and aggressive, the two clashing head on, ugly. Before long it mellowed out into a very strange pop melody, fast and reckless and in ways hilarious, the two rising and falling together. As it progressed they began to fall in time with each other, the melody becoming slower, far gentler. Towards the end they reached a crescendo, the climax of the story, Wolfram’s voice fading out and Yuuri’s ringing out alone, anguished, desperate, confused and he reached out, finally beginning to make the connection and bridge the gap so they could move forward, together, as one, instead of one in front of the other. And at the end they were together, calm, in perfect harmony, the words that seemed so strange and frightening before now making sense and sounding right, and concluding on a loving note, left quavering in the air long after they were through.   
  
The final stage of their learning in the art of music was to learn to the reprise, an instrumental piece of the same song they’d spent years mastering. It was the most complicated part but in ways the most satisfying to perfect.  
  
Yuuri had never played an instrument before, not really, just learned to play the recorder in school, and he played it badly. Günter had once tried to teach Wolfram how to play the piano but he’d never caught on. So it was comforting for both of them to know they weren’t in it alone and they could learn together.  
  
Yuuri played Wolfram’s body like an instrument, figuring out where to touch, where to press down, where to stroke, and how hard to press, to hear Wolfram make the most beautiful sounds. It took a few tries – he could hardly get it right the first time – but Wolfram helped him, showed him how to play, and before long they set a rhythm between them and their song rang out in the night.  
  
And when it was over, and the last resonating notes fading ceased to ring in their ears, Wolfram moved close to Yuuri and whispered in Yuuri’s ear, his warm breath sending shivers down the king’s spine.   
  
“I love you, Yuuri.”  
  
And it was the most beautiful sound Yuuri had ever heard.


End file.
